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DOI: 10.15862/37SCSK226 (https://doi.org/10.15862/37SCSK226)

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Ardelyanova Ya.A. [Perception of corruption by the urban population of Russia: results of a sociological study] World of Science. Series: Sociology, Philology, Cultural Studies, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 2. Available at: https://sfk-mn.ru/PDF/37SCSK226.pdf (in Russian). DOI: 10.15862/37SCSK226

Perception of corruption by the urban population of Russia: results of a sociological study

Ardelyanova Yana Andreevna
Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Institute of Sociology
E-mail: ardyana@yandex.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8881-6121
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=701425

Abstract. The article presents the results of a sociological study of the attitude of the adult urban population of Russia to corruption. In particular, the basic attitudes of corruption perception were analyzed, the level of prevalence of corrupt practices, the personal experience of respondents and their willingness to potential corrupt behavior were studied. The empirical basis is an online survey of able-bodied residents of 13 large cities (n = 1300) conducted in 2024. The theoretical framework integrates the dispositional concept of V.A. Yadov’s personality and the concept of the institutional gap, which makes it possible to explain the dissonance between value orientations and situational practices. The results show that while 65,4 % of respondents formally condemn corruption, a significant proportion of the population (46,3 %) allows the use of personal connections «in some cases», and 30,8 % do not identify «fraud» as corruption. Normalization of «gray» corruption was also revealed: 24 % of respondents interpret mutual services and gifts to officials as a «personal matter», and 41,5 % are tolerant of informal rewards for services. This reflects the institutional gap between formal prohibitions and informal practices, where bribery becomes a tool for overcoming bureaucratic barriers. There is also a gap between passive (receiving) and active (giving) forms of participation and a dissonance between declared norms and real behavior. As a result of the study, the most corruption-vulnerable areas were identified. The analysis of the relationship with socio-demographic indicators revealed the following trends: young people (18–23 years old) are more often neutral towards corruption, the older generation is more categorical in condemning; higher education reinforces the identification of «thug» as corruption. The practical conclusions of the study emphasize that the entrenchment of corruption as an adaptive mechanism requires not only repressive measures, but also the transformation of social norms. An effective anti-corruption policy is impossible without overcoming double standards in the public consciousness.

Keywords: corruption; perception of corruption; institutional gap; attitudes; urban population; personal connections; domestic corruption; dispositional concept

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